Sunderland pier pervert was ordered to avoid attractive women

A DISABLED pervert touched himself in front of a woman on Roker Pier before following her and carrying out a sexual assault in broad daylight.

David Jenkins, 21, suffers from an undisclosed medical condition which requires him to be supervised when he goes out, and to avoid attractive women, Sunderland magistrates heard.

However, at 4pm on July 15 last year, he was seen on Roker Pier, with his hand on his crotch, as the female victim was out for a walk, the court was told.

Keith Laidlaw, prosecuting, said the victim approached the seafront and headed for the pier.

“Further on the way down the pier, she sees a male standing next to the railings on the south side of the pier,” Mr Laidlaw said.

“He appeared to be standing with his legs slightly spread. He began to touch his penis and crotch area over his pants.”

The victim’s statement read: “At first I thought he was just trying to correct himself, but it went on for far too long. I thought it was inappropriate to do in public. I attempted to walk past the male, but he started to walk towards me. I didn’t feel in any danger at this point, just very uncomfortable.”

The victim got part-way down the pier. She turned around and started to walk back, when she spotted Jenkins walking towards her.

“I walked 20 yards when I felt someone’s hand on my back and someone touching my backside. I stumbled forward.

“I turned around and was face-to-face with him. I didn’t say anything to him as I was in complete shock.

“I had to lean on the railings to stop myself falling over.

“The male ran away, he was running sideways. I could see he was disabled, as he was limping.”

The woman was collected by a friend and while driving away, they saw the same male and contacted police.

She said in a statement read out in court: “No person has any authority to touch me like that.”

Jenkins, of Spring Garden Close in the East End, admitted sexual assault.

Angus Westgarth, defending, said: “The difficulty this young man has, as outlined in the report, makes it difficult to take instructions from him.

“His father says that up until the age of 14 or 15, everything was fine. Then he was badly attacked which exacerbated the condition he has.

“They have safety conditions in place. If he goes out, it’s with friends or family. The safety conditions are, as far as he is able to understand them, is that if he sees someone attractive, he tries to avoid them.”

Sentencing Jenkins to a 12-month supervision order, District Judge Roger Elsey said: “This is a serious offence which has had a significant impact on your victim.”